The Scroll of Bayushi Daijin lay on a long, low, black-lacquer table in a high room at the Scorpion fortress, Kyuden Bayushi.  The room was dark, lit by a single lantern set on the table next to the scroll.  Shadows danced across the fusuma walls.

Shoju, Kachiko, Tetsuo, and Soshi Bantaro sat on the floor.  Side by side but not touching, they peered at the artifact.  No one had opened the scroll since Shoju gazed at it briefly in the catacombs.

"This is a thing of wonder, my lord," said Bantaro, his eyes darting over the rolled parchment.  "A pity we cannot share it with the world, and thereby spread your fame."

Shoju looked through his mask at the old man.  Bantaro had aged prematurely due to his magics - or perhaps to the vices he secretly indulged.  The shugenja's mouth twitched nervously as he spoke.  He rubbed his bald head with one long-fingered.

"We are not the Lion, Bantaro," Shoju said."We do not seek fame and glory.  We merely serve the emperor - and we do it in secret, as is the Scorpion way."

"Of course, lord," Bantaro said, bowing.  "I only meant that it is apity the world will never know how well you serve Rokugan and the emperor."

"The emperor knows, and that is enough," said Kachiko,  Her eyes caught those of the old man, and the shugenja felt his bones turn to jelly.  Bantaro loved her or feared her or both.  Seeing his subtle confusion, Kachiko smiled slightly.

"Master, this scroll is an evil thing," said Tetsuo.  "No good can come of it.  I feel it in my bones.  Better we had never found it in that forgotten vault."

"Knowledge is neither good nor evil," Kachiko said.  "It is merely a tool in the hands of one who knows how to use it."

Shoju nodded.  "We will know better what Daijin's words hold once we have read them."  He looked at Bantaro.  "When I open it, you know what to do."

Bantaro nodded as well.  Fear glinted in the shugenja's eyes.  "My life, my power, my service are yours, my lord."

Shoju reached for the scroll.  The room seemed to darken.

Tetsuo swallowed hard, his hand straying to his obi, where his swords usually hung.  His fingers found only his belt.  His swords lay on the floor to his right.  Tetsuo resisted the urge to take them up.  He swallowed again.

The Scorpion lord's hands hovered over the parchment.  The power of the artifact made his palms tingle.  Shoju fancied he could see a dim green glow around the scroll.  Slowly, he lowered his hands.